Derrick Lewis is only behind Jon Jones in headlining UFC events. Lewis won via knockout in his recent main event fight against Rodrigo Nascimento and even revealed his plans to appear in WWE. Dana White was okay with Lewis appearing on WWE, but former UFC fighter Tom Lawlor called out on the double standards.
White is a big fan of Derrick Lewis as he even stated he would do anything for the UFC record holder for most knockouts. Moreover, White revealed he has no qualms with any of his fighters going into professional wrestling before and after the TKO-merger.
I mean I didn’t have a problem with that when Vince [McMahon] was consistently fucking me for no reason and now that that’s not the case anymore I obviously would absolutely do it.
Dana White at the UFC St. Lousi press conference
Tom Lawlor fought in the UFC from 2008-2016. The light heavyweight fighter fought in the PFL afterward. Moreover, he was also a professional wrestler who recently competed in AEW. Nonetheless, when Lawlor was in the UFC, he wanted to appear on Ring of Honor, the precursor of AEW. However, Dana White disallowed him.
L O f**king L.
Tom Lawlor via X
AEW is now the direct rival of WWE, one-half of TKO with the UFC. As such, there is no chance White would allow fighters to appear on AEW. However, a UFC-WWE crossover is possible for many fighters, especially the ones with a character.
Many UFC stars have appeared on WWE. Some even have competed in the ring. Brock Lesnar has shifted back and forth in WWE and UFC. Ronda Rousey is the most high-profile name who went from UFC to WWE. The other way around is Phil Brooks a.k.a CM Punk. Recently, Michael Chandler appeared on WWE and called out Conor McGregor.
Michael Chandler, Ronda Rousey, and Daniel Cormier (Image via: IMAGO)UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier has appeared as a special referee on WWE. Moreover, several MMA fighters applauded WrestleMania XL which saw Cody Rhodes defeat Roman Reigns in the main event. Nate Diaz had met with Triple H a couple of years back, spewing rumors of matchup between him and Logan Paul.
Matt Riddle, recently released by WWE, formerly competed in the UFC. Moreover, WWE superstar Bobby Lashley formerly competed at Bellator. Similar was the case for Jake Hager who now competes in AEW. Furthermore, several fighters from the American Top Team had appeared on AEW. It was part of a storyline in which ATT owner Dan Lambert was an antagonist.
Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez had also appeared in WWE and other professional wrestling promotions. With the WWE-TKO merger, the number of crossovers would likely rise. More likely, it would be the UFC fighters going into WWE than the other way around.
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